Henry de Monfreid 14 November 1879 in Leucate 13 December 1974 was a French adventurer and author Born in Leucate, Aude, France, he was the son of artist painter Georges Daniel de Monfreid and knew Paul Gauguin as a child.Monfreid was famous for his travels in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa coast from Tanzania to Aden, Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula and Suez, that he sailed in his various expeditions as adventurer, smuggler and gunrunner during which he said he than once escaped the Royal Navy coast guards cutters.Monfreid is probably best known in the English speaking world for the following two books Hashish A Smuggler s Tale and Secrets of the Red Sea, a book about gunrunning.His books include Les secrets de la mer Rouge 1931 Aventures de mer Grasset, 1932 La croisi re du hachich Grasset, 1933 Vers les terres hostiles de l thiopie Grasset, 1933 La poursuite du Ka pan Grasset, 1934 Le naufrage de la Marietta Grasset, 1934 Le drame thiopien Grasset, 1935 Le l preux Grasset, 1935 Les derniers jours de l Arabie Heureuse N.R.F, 1935 Les guerriers de l Ogaden N.R.F, 1936 Le masque d or Grasset, 1936 L avion noir Grasset, 1936 Le Roi des abeilles Gallimard Le Tr sor du p lerin Gallimard, 1938 Charras Editions du Pavois, 1947 Du Harrar au Kenya Grasset, 1949 L homme sorti de la mer Grasset, 1951 M n lik tel qu il fut Grasset, 1954 Sous le masque Mau Mau Grasset, 1956 Mon aventure l le des Forbans Grasset, 1958 Le Radeau de la M duse comment fut sauv Djibouti, Grasset, 1958 Les Lionnes d or d Ethiopie Laffont, 1964 Le Feu de Saint Elme Laffont, 1973 Journal de bord Arthaud, 1984 Lettres d Abyssinie Flammarion, 1999 Lettres de la mer Rouge Flammarion, 2000 by Monfreid s daughter, Gis le Mes secrets de la Mer rouge, 1982, Editions France Empire